Who Is PewDiePie?

PewDiePie, also known as Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, is a popular "Let's Play" youtuber who is the most subscribed individual on YouTube with over 100 million subscribers.

Although other youtubers before him took the gaming platform beyond the internet, he arguably made YouTube the mainstream video site it's known today.

But how did he do it...how did one person become so popular and rich?

11. T-Series vs. PewDiePie

T-Series, India's multimedia YouTube channel, is currently the most subscribed channel, but they didn't get there without a fight.

Indeed the 2018 to early 2019 T-Series vs. PewDiePie battle for supremacy was epic, captivating, confusing to mainstream media, and exciting for fans of Felix, memes, and all things internet.

Nearly every popular youtuber and millions of fans, his 9-year old army as he puts it, joined in to help keep Felix's channel at the top of the charts over the rising Indian conglomerate.

For months it was a brutal back and forth between the two channels with everything from public fan displays during the Superbowl, a printer scandal, tons of charity live streams, and many, many social media posts to keep PewDiePie from falling.

It was one of the biggest ongoing feuds in the digital space because of what it represented. Felix is an individual creator while T-Series is a multi-million dollar network, and fans/youtubers understood how important it was for a creator to succeed.

The creator vs media corporation chasm will continue to grow, and unfortunately the little guy couldn't win this time. On the plus side, it made PewDiePie more popular than ever and this battle will forever be enshrined in the history of the internet.

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10. He's Swedish

Globally YouTube is one of the top three most visited sites on the internet and the most popular social media site for teens.

The fact that PewDiePie was born and raised in Sweden gives him an edge over many youtubers trying to make it. He has an international appeal that someone from say the United States can't quite capture.

Luckily for him he can also speak English, which makes him marketable throughout the world especially in North America and many parts of Europe. The other cool factor is that being Swedish gives him an accent, which people really seem to enjoy.

Accents make you stand out, and if you're a youtuber, then it can cause more people outside the United States to relate to you.

9. Capitalized on "Let's Plays"

He took a fledgling market of video game commentary and turned it into entertainment.

Felix wasn't the first person to play video games while recording himself, but he was definitely one of the most entertaining. In part, his reactions to horror games was what began drawing attention in a time where people never watched someone react to such a genre.

He arrived at the perfect time where video game commentary, horror games, and Let's Plays began to explode. He was able to add the right amount of genuine humor and emotion that got people talking.

He may not have been first, but he took an idea and created something new that made people notice.

8. The Comedy

His comedy is what really sold his content.

I understand that many people think his brash and over the top humor is childish, but it's what made him popular.

There are plenty of people who want to show off games and game play in a serious tone, but that's not for everyone. Personally I want someone to play games while also giving me a little extra, which is what PewDiePie does.

He may be loud and outrageous, but it's better having a personality than not having one at all. His style made him interesting to a lot of people, and it continues to draw millions to his channel everyday.

7. YouTube's Video Gaming Community (Rise of Twitch)

Gaming is the second most popular type of content on YouTube after music.

It shouldn't come as a surprise then that some of the most popular YouTube creations are gaming channels, which steal the adult male demo by over 90 percent.

As video game streaming exploded with the rise of Twitch and YouTube's gaming community, so did PewDiePie's channel.

There's really nothing that comes close and it's still growing today. In fact video games are about to get a huge boost from virtual reality, which could grasp people who normally wouldn't be interested.

It also helps that Felix plays many relevant, popular games like "The Last of Us" and "Uncharted 4" that many can't afford to buy or play.

Having him do an entire series on a popular game is very appealing to large audiences that don't have the time to play. It's very similar to how we watch sports instead of actually play them.

6. Content Variety

Although gaming is in itself a niche category, that doesn't mean you can't do something new with it.

PewDiePie doesn't only do Let's Plays, he does a variety of content including podcasts, reading comments, playing Indie games, playing fan-made games, filming collaboration videos with his wife Marzia, partnering with other youtubers, vlogging, and much more.

His content is always new, fresh, and relatively short. Even when he's filming a video game series, he continues to mix it up with different forms of entertainment.

If he never did anything new, then there's no way he would be as successful as he is today. Pewdiepie is able to capture a widespread demographic because he can grab multiple layers of interest.

Despite that, he doesn't bounce away from his video game niche. In fact he reinvented Minecraft in 2019 and is generating bigger views than ever.

5. Interacting with the YouTube Community

It's rare to become a YouTube success without community interaction.

Things like reading mean comments or making statements about controversial topics, digital trends, and the YouTube community will make you appear more accessible in the eyes of your viewers.

The more accessible you are, the more likely you'll capture new audiences and grow as a youtuber. PewDiePie does this often to show his fans how much he cares about them and the platform he's apart of.

Though these segments may be serious, he continues to have fun with his fan base through off-beat humor and sarcasm.. He also ingratiates himself with social media for further promotion and interaction.

Through these methods he was kind enough to help many new youtubers that were talented but unrecognized.

4. Plays Independent (Indie) and Fan Made Games

Not a lot of gamers on YouTube go outside the box like PewDiePie does when it comes to unproven Indie games.

Some of his best and most original content is him playing these kinds of hidden gems. He's able to provide fresh insight on something others haven't done before and promotes games that people wouldn't notice.

That's one of the greatest things a gaming channel can do, and it's nice to see him enjoy these games and/or favor them over mainstream hits.

Besides indies he plays a lot of fan-made games and creations that gamers don't normally bother with, which again strengthens the community and makes people admire him.

3. The Crying Game

Felix started YouTube as someone who enjoyed playing games and filming videos without the goal of monetary gain, and that's how you get noticed.

People who start a YouTube channel only for the money will likely fail because the site is very hit and miss. There are so many youtubers who upload everyday and provide cool, new content but barely get noticed because there's no real formula to winning.

Felix never thought he would be famous and started off YouTube because he enjoyed games and wanted to entertain people. He also doesn't hide his emotions, and with every series, you can see real emotions whether he's happy, sad, scared, or angry.

They may be exaggerated sometimes but he doesn't cry or get jump-scared because fans want him to.

This was very true in the early years where there was very little exaggeration during a series like "The Walking Dead" or "Amnesia: The Dark Descent".

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2. Video Upload Consistency

Content creators need to upload consistently in order to stay relevant, which is something PewDiePie excels at.

I don't think there's been one day where he hasn't uploaded a video even when he's sick or traveling. Felix usually uploads twice a day, which is common for most gaming channels, but he's been doing this for nine years now.

Most YouTube channels do not last a year or even a few months because the creators give up too easily. The most common reason people give up is because they don't get any money and see very little growth (subscriber or view count).

This hearkens back to youtubers who upload because they love doing it over the money.

If money is your only concern, then get another job.

1. Clickbait + Thumbnails

PewDiePie's thumbnails are extremely fun and interesting.

They are part clickbait, part creative and it's what draws new viewers. Although some feel that such titles or thumbnails are insidious, most agree that it does cause people to click on the videos.

Felix is very good at doing this, and you have to appreciate how much time he puts into those thumbnails. You must be willing to sacrifice a bit of yourself if you're going to be a self-employed creator.

PewDiePie's success is unbelievable, and I don't think it can be achieved again. YouTube has changed drastically since 2010 and he was in the foreground during its explosion.

It's easy to see why he's the most subscribed person on YouTube. It was not a fluke however if he didn't captivate on it first, we might've seen someone else do it.

The market was already changing, and Felix was smart enough to acknowledge that change and throw caution to the wind.

Why is Pewdiepie getting worked up over not being the Number 1 most subscribed YouTube channel? Don't views matter more than subscriptions?

Answer:

Based on his past humor, I believe he's kidding around. I don't genuinely feel he cares that much, and yes views are much more important than subscriptions if a YouTuber truly cares about getting paid.

In my eyes, I still believe he is YouTube's most subscribed channel because he's a true, pure YouTuber and not a corporation, mainstream musician or company like a T-Series or Justin Bieber.

Theoretically, PewDiePie has more total views, so his net worth is likely much higher, but Logan Paul's view count has been surging lately, and it's likely he's making more money than PewDiePie. However, he lost a lot of endorsements and brand deals after his scandal, as did PewDiePie, so it's unclear who is the top money earner right now.

His net worth is around 20 million, and he most likely makes between 4-10 million a year according to multiple sources, but his exact earnings are not clear.

PewDiePie earns money from Adsense, sponsorships, brand deals, past YouTube Red shows, and much more so it's unclear how much he really makes. A few years ago he was ranked as the top YouTube earner, but recent hits to his reputation and channel could've impacted his ranking.

Why does PewDiePie have 81 million subscribers when he has 3-4 million views on his videos?

Answer:

Currently, his videos average between 6-10 million per video however his monthly views are in the billions because he has thousands of other videos that people click on.

It's not unusual for high subscribed YouTubers to have much fewer views. A lot of those high numbers are due to older users that never unsubscribed and it's impossible for all of his 81 million subscribers (now 84) to watch his videos.

For Pewdiepie the situation is even more unique due to his recent subscriber surge from the Pewdiepie vs. T-Series event. It's likely that his numbers have been hyper-inflated due to that event, and that the majority of new subscribers only subscribed to give him a larger subscriber count than T-Series.

Comments

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Rachael

2 days ago

Anyone who calls Pewdiepie cancerous is either a hypocrite, or less intelligent than the majority of Pewdiepie's fanbase. His jokes didn't need to be sophisticated to be funny, and a lot of people didn't just find the joke itself funny, but how he presented it as well. For example, in his Minecraft series whenever his pets died he'll say "they were like a father to be, I loved him like a son". It's an ongoing joke that because of it's repition and how stupid it really is, it's funny. Enjoying someone's content when they make unintelligent jokes doesn't make someone an idiot. I really love the jokes Felix makes because of their simplicity, but I also really enjoy nigahiga's jokes, which for the most part are intricate. All in all, not finding jokes or content funny doesn't equate to you being superior compared to people who do enjoy it. Especially seeing as people enjoy Felix because he's honest, down to earth and humble, his humour simple enough for people of al ages to enjoy it.

ur mom gay ray

5 months ago

ray lmao were 9 year olds get it right and hes still the most subscribed YouTuber even adults watch pewdiepie ray go back to India you gay t series fan

Android_R.E.

5 months ago

Idk in its true but lamo on the first picture!

Ray

5 months ago

I agree with dave. this is cancerous cant wait to see all the 10 year olds that watch this garbage grow up

clifford

5 months ago

you now you don't have to watch it dave you t series suporter

Dave

6 months ago

The fact that PewDiePie is the most popular YouTuber really makes me concerned about the average intelligence level of human beings on this planet. I checked out his show and I cannot understand at all why he is even close to the highest ranking YouTuber his content is really stupid and not funny.

Jason

6 months ago

I love Pewdiepie. He's so genuine!

Uriel

6 months ago

I watched a few videos of PewDiePie and I found his content dumb. I really didn't get how he could be the most subscribed youtuber haha and the I realized humans are dumb too... So there you go it's the synchronicity

Chris Alvarez

7 months ago

Interesting article subscribe to Pewdiepie

Idiots

8 months ago

Pewdiepie is garbage and you should feel bad for liking it

Poppy

8 months agofrom Tokyo, Japan

I was going to write an article similar to this one, but I see you beat me to it! I love PewDiePie. I didn't start watching him until about a year ago. I love his humour and how watching is videos is like hanging out with a friend.

No Name

12 months ago

hi i like pewdiepie,he is an awesome youtuber,if you want u can go wach him (sorry for my bad english)

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

13 months agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

He's a lot more than that, so I understand why you might get upset.

Jack spedicey

14 months ago

He doesn’t play video games anymore

Alexandra

16 months ago

I'm Swedish and I'm not a top yoytuber

Memes are cool

20 months ago

The pic at the top is sooooooo true! XD :D :p

This ain't a name

20 months ago

All of it is 100% accurate too bad I can't be Swedish to be popular in YouTube :( oh well

pewdiepie

20 months ago

yo mama wow are you really going to steal my chair just to do... this?

Random

20 months ago

I’m from Belgium and reached more than 90 subs and have more friends than usual!(sorry) I LOVE pewds as a YouTuber

yo mama

21 months ago

because he can do... THIS

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

21 months agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

Ha, that's an interesting way of looking at it.

Dale Anderson

21 months agofrom The High Seas

Coincidental timing as I was just having a beer with an IT friend of mine and he was telling me about this nut.

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

2 years agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

While I appreciate your enthusiasm, this isn't a top 10 list.

Jpauler

2 years ago

jake should be at least on the list. He is awesome. If anyone is bored, go follow his awesome funny and pure AMAZE channel!!

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

2 years agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

He's great at involving his audience so I completely agree with your assessment.

Derpy

2 years ago

His videos are great. When i watch it, i can feel like i'm the one who played the game and his reaction make me feel like i'm inside the game lol

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

2 years agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

Indeed he can.

Tamerrrrrrrrrr

2 years ago

He says bad words

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

2 years agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

Thank you

Deej

2 years ago

It's, "hit or miss", not, "hit and miss".

Suzi

2 years ago

I love pewdiepie

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

2 years agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

I think both are great in their own unique way.

nun yo buisness

2 years ago

HE is amazing

well in my opinion i like jacksepticeye the best TBH

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

2 years agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

That's highly subjective but I agree that there's plenty more talented people out there who sadly don't get the recognition they deserve. But he has worked very hard and has been consistent for years changing and transforming his content. He made the right moves at the perfect time but that doesn't mean he didn't work at it afterwards.

Geo

2 years ago

his videos are mediocre and i know far more talented individuals who are much shinier diamonds still in the rough. pewdiepie won the lottery thats about it.

X TheRealExposer X

2 years ago

play asphalt 8

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

2 years agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

His variety of content has increased substantially over the past couple of years. He's no longer just the gamer guy.

M

2 years ago

He's childish and anti semetic. He thinks his latest postings are funny but are extremely dangerous. If his audience of some 50,000,000 dumb subscribers agree with him the world is in big trouble. We don't need another holocaust.

olga

2 years ago

he is Jesus

trash

2 years ago

*coughs* did you mean MARKIPLIER

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

2 years agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

It's okay you'll never have to.

Mrs.Markiplier

3 years ago

I will NOT betray my #1 youtuber Markiplier!!!!!

AUTHOR

Krzysztof Willman

3 years agofrom Parlin, New Jersey

Agreed and technically it wasn't that long ago but feels like it's been 15-20 years. Now 10 million is the new 1 million for top dog channels.

Cindy

3 years agofrom Planet Earth

Wow. A lot of time has passed. I still remember when Fred was the most subscribed on Youtube, and when 1 million subscribers was a lot.

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